Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Eighty

When he finally awoke, Cypher found himself in his own bed, the covers pulled up to his chest and his clothes on the chair beside him. He wobbled to his feet and stumbled into his living room to replace Alvin and Glenda chatting and drinking from a brown bottle. Their eyes lit up as they caught sight of him and Alvin rushed to his side to help him replace a seat.

“Ah! You’re awake at last! Seems you were pushing yourself a bit too hard there my boy, but don’t worry this will pass with time,” Alvin said, his face a bit red and his breath heavy with the scent of alcohol.

“What happened to me? How did I-” Cypher began, but Alvin simply cut him off.

“You pushed yourself to your absolute limit. As far as we could tell, you simply exhausted your reserves of mental energy with that last attack. You’ve been training and studying non-stop for an entire month. It’s only natural that this would happen, but I am sorry that I didn’t think to warn you to slow down a bit beforehand. For that I apologize,” Alvin said, pushing his disciple down onto the open spot on the couch.

Cypher grunted and rested his head in his hands as he leaned forward. “How long have I been out? A few hours?” Alvin frowned and shook his head, “You’ve been unconscious for two days. Glenda and I have been taking turns between our classes and other duties to check on you but your condition wasn’t very serious and we figured it would be best to just let you rest and recover on your own.”

Cypher sighed and sat back up. It certainly didn’t feel like two days had passed, and he couldn’t even remember dreaming while he had been unconscious. Still, two days weren’t a long period of time and he felt better than ever now that his body had a chance to relax and return to its peak condition. His mind felt faster and his body felt stronger than before. After analyzing himself for a few moments he realized that he had taken a full step towards reaching the first rank of the body.

There were many more still to go but this was an achievement all on its own. He was further impressed when he examined his Athenaeum. Inside not much had changed, however, a small closet had been added to the ‘western’ wall of the mental construct and he was pleased to see that even his mental space had improved ever so slightly from all his hard work.

He conveyed this information to Alvin and the man exclaimed loudly, “HAH! You are making wonderful progress my young disciple! If you keep this up you’ll become a rank-one Conductor in no time! I really know how to pick ’em don’t I Glenda?”

She only waved her hand as she emptied her cup and poured herself another drink. Once she was finished she chuckled and replied, “You can’t take all the credit, Alvin, don’t forget that I’ve been trying to kill him for weeks now, and my instruction has helped him immensely,” A slight giggle escaped her lips followed by another sip from her cup, which shocked Cypher. If he hadn’t heard it himself he would never have believed that Glenda was the type to giggle.

“In any event, you should be good to return to your training in another day. Take tomorrow off and rest some more. The only thing I want you to do is to keep studying the Architect’s Draft,” Alvin said as he rejoined them on the couch and took a drink from his own cup.

Cypher nodded and then a thought occurred to him, “Why are you two drinking in my living room? Wouldn’t it be better to do that in your own rooms or something? I mean how are you gonna drink and enjoy yourselves while I’m stuck in bed? Some instructors you are! Seems to me like the two of you are spending an awful lot of time together,” Cypher said playfully, a smirk already spreading across his face. To him, it looked like Alvin and Glenda were getting along a little too well.

“You stop right there boy. I know what you’re getting at and I don’t like it one bit. We were just keeping an eye on you and it’s boring in here. We were just trying to make the most of a shit situation that’s all. Don’t make me knock some sense into you! I couldn’t care less if you’ve just recovered, don’t tempt me! Hmph!” Glenda crossed her arms and scowled at Cypher but he and Alvin simply laughed.

The three of them sat around talking for a few more hours, going over the finer points of how to properly use the Zight Stanza, and Cypher learned a lot about how to increase the conversion rate by running Zight at differing speeds throughout his body. Glenda also mentioned how it could be used for more than quick finishing blows, such as using it to climb steep surfaces or run faster, and each of these different applications left him eager to try them out for himself.

That time would come eventually but for now, he was content to take a short break even if it was only for a day. Eventually, the two professors left him to his own devices and with nothing else to do, Cypher eagerly opened the Architect’s Draft and began trying to memorize the diagram once more.

Alvin came to his quarters the next day around noon, and it had been nice to sleep in and not rush about trying to make it down to the training field or pour over his notes and lessons for once. Thus, when Alvin knocked on his door, Cypher answered it immediately.

“Ah, Alvin, what can I do for you today? I thought I was supposed to take today off,” Cypher said as he welcomed his master inside. Alvin had a look of worry on his face though and he seemed to be agitated.

Cypher took notice of this and asked, “What is it? Did I do something wrong? Or have the Elders made another decision regarding me? Oh hell, it isn’t about Alex is it?” Cypher’s questions had quickly poured out one after another and Alvin turned to him and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t about Alex, and no the Elders haven’t contacted me since you spoke with them. It’s just that… Well, hmm, you might want to have a seat for this one. Certain developments have… complicated things,” Cypher did as Alvin asked and the man paced back and forth in front of him.

“Well, out with it then Master! What’s the problem? I hope these complications aren’t too-” Cypher paused to think of another word but couldn’t, “complicated,” Alvin turned to face him and flashed him an obviously forced smile.

“Now Cypher, before I tell you this, I want you to know that the academy has your back when it comes to most things. This might put you in danger, but you needn’t worry because your contract covers a situation similar to this. You’re protected as long as you mind yourself. So, believe me when I say that you don’t need to worry too much about this,” Alvin was clearly beating around the bush and stalling for time however he could.

“Okay, well tell me what’s going on. You telling me not to worry over and over is making me worry,” Cypher said, his patience wearing thin at Alvin’s shenanigans. Alvin took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he finally spilled the beans.

“Okay well, it would seem that certain developments have unfolded themselves at your old home. Are you familiar at all with the investigation that was happening after your return from Gelrin Cliff?” Cypher froze in place. He hadn’t thought about it at all since he arrived at the academy, so much had happened between then and now, but that didn’t mean he had forgotten about it.

“Sure, I’m familiar with it, but what about it?” He asked cautiously. His knowledge of the investigation had only been scattered bits of information he could hear from the other servants in the house, or the screams coming from the dungeons. His room had been just down the hall from the staircase leading to them after all.

Alvin only looked more worried and continued, “I hope you aren’t holding back any information that could cause a break in the case. If you are, it definitely makes things more difficult for everyone involved. In regards to that, you have a visitor and I’m worried that they might be… poorly received. Will you meet with them? It’s important that I allow them to tell you exactly what happened. More to the point, they have to tell you since they were quite vague when they asked to set up this meeting.

“If you agree, I will accompany you to the meeting for your own protection,” Cypher was reluctant to instantly accept, but he trusted Alvin and that trust hadn’t been misplaced so far, what was the worst that could happen?

“Okay, I’ll meet them, but tell me, who is it?” Cypher asked, his eyebrow raised.

Alvin paused but after a moment he answered, “It’s Galex Galvan,” Cypher blanched, and his jaw dropped as that name rolled out of Alvin’s mouth.